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From: wi@dutlru2.tudelft.nl (Edwin Wisse)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Free flying lab (was: Re: LLNL Astronaut Delivery)
Message-ID: <1990Nov14.103802.21823@dutlru1.tudelft.nl>
Date: 14 Nov 90 10:38:02 GMT
References: <3448@orbit.cts.com>
Sender: wi@dutlru2.tudelft.nl
Organization: Delft Univ. of Technology, Fac. of Aerospace Engineering
Lines: 18

In article <3448@orbit.cts.com> schaper@pnet51.orb.mn.org (S Schaper) writes:
>Why not let the free-flyer be the one to orbit without the thruster
>corrections, except for the ones necessary to maintain orbit, let the manned
>platform do the formation flying? That may turn out necessary for Freedom as
>ell
>to have the materials sciences on a separate platform - an expanded Columbus,

That is exactly what ESA is doing right now. Freedom does not only consist of
the permanently manned lab, it also includes a polar platform for Earth
observation and a man-tended free flyer. This man-tended free flyer is the
real microgravity lab, it docks to Freedom regularly in order to have its
experiments replaced and maintained by the Freedom crew, it can also be
visited by Hermes, as a matter of fact, its one of the reasons why ESA is
going to build a Hermes. As far as I know the free flyer (they renamed it
some time ago but I cannot remember what its called now) will only fire its
thrusters for return to Freedom, the rest of the time it will just coast.

Edwin Wisse       wi@dutlru2.tudelft.nl       BITNET: vlrustc@hdetud1